Kade grimaced. "I'm military intelligence, and part of an investigation that started with the theft of a crate of laser weapons from the Landsend Military Base."

Landsend was one of the military's top research centers. "The same lasers those creatures attacked us with?"

His gaze met mine. "The same."

"I'd have thought a crate would have been a little hard to conceal or steal," Rhoan said dryly.

"This happened over several months. And they're certainly not the only thing to go missing from Landsend."

"Security that slack, huh?"

Kade gave him a cutting look. "No. Under normal circumstances, you can't get an ant out of there undetected."

"Well, someone succeeded. You checked all personnel?"

"Not me personally. By that stage, I was undercover."

"As a builder. With your so-called brother."

Kade's rich gaze met mine, and the cold fury I'd glimpsed over the last few days was there for all to see. "He was my partner. And they killed him."

"They who?" Quinn asked.

"The same people who got the guns out of Landsend." Kade's look became grim. "Or maybe that should be the same things."

"Define 'things,'" Rhoan said.

"We caught them on some special cameras the division installed. Staff thought they were infrared, and we didn't disillusion them. In reality, they were designed to record only when motion combined with certain lower-than-normal body temperatures were sensed."

I raised my eyebrows. "Reverse heat sensors?"

He nodded. "There are some creatures—chameleons, for example—who are not only cold-blooded, but invisible to normal and infrared cameras."

"But it wasn't a chameleon taking the lasers, was it?" Quinn asked.

"No. It was something we'd never seen before. It was spiderlike, and yet fluid in form, able to pour itself through the tiniest of cracks. It ingested the weapons and got them out that way."

I propped a hip against the wall. My feet were beginning to ache, but the only available seat was between Quinn and Kade, and being squeezed between two delicious men might be a little too hard for my hormones to handle. Especially when I was trying to concentrate on what was going on.

"If they ingested them, how could the weapons be retrieved?" I asked.

"The creatures could somehow reconstruct them as they regurgitated." He shrugged.

Weird. "So what did they want the weapons for?"

"I think the weapons were little more than a side benefit. Landsend is high security. If you can get in and out of there undetected, you could go anywhere."

"And how does this connect with you ending up a sperm donor in that breeding center?" Rhoan asked quietly.

"My department rigged the doors and air ducts in and around the stores with special containers designed to trap the creature as it moved through in liquid form. We did tests that told us two things—that nature wasn't responsible for its birth, and that it came from somewhere near the Blue Mountains area."

I raised my eyebrows. "How can you tell something like that?"

Amusement touched his lips. "There were traces of soil picked up on the creature."

"So you and your partner set up shop near Bullaburra and began investigations." Meaning he'd known all along where we were once we'd escaped that breeding center. Most annoying.

"How did you get caught?" Rhoan asked.

Kade's gaze went to Rhoan. "I don't know. But we were barely there a week when it all went ass up. Those things attacked and killed Denny, and drugged me." He shrugged. "I was in that breeding center a good two months by the time Riley came along."

I shifted my weight again, trying to ease the ache in my feet. "Which begs several questions—why kill your partner and keep you alive? And why did no one question your disappearance?"

"I'll think you'll find the answers to both those questions are intertwined," Jack commented. "Kade's partner had no recorded psi-gifts. Kade, on the other hand, is psi-immune and, at the same time, able to use his own formidable talents."

"Which they could only have known about if they'd had access to his file. And that would be impossible without alarms—" I stopped, remembering what Misha had said. I looked from Jack to Kade and back again. "That's what Misha meant. There's a mole in your department."

Kade nodded. "And it comes down to two men—my immediate boss, Ross James, or the man in charge of the whole section, one General Martin Hunt. They were the only two who knew Denny and I were out in the field, and why."

"But surely the alarms would have been raised regardless?" How could two men disappear without an alert being raised? Especially in a military division?

"If it's Ross James, he could easily be submitting false reports," Rhoan commented. He looked at Jack. "We're having both men investigated?"

"Yes. At the moment, both men appear cleaner than an angel's halo." Jack's expression was as grim as I'd ever seen it. "And, of course, Ross James knows Kade is free and with us, because I confirmed Kade's identity with him when we were in Leura."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Ross James is the easier target. He's human, and though he apparently has strong psi-shields, they aren't rated high enough to keep me out."

"Which is why he'll never become a general," Kade murmured.

"He knows Kade is alive, so we're using that, and have arranged a meeting."

"To what end?" Rhoan asked. "We both know he'll be wearing the latest in psi-deadeners. Even if he is innocent, I very much doubt whether he'd be stupid enough to come alone."

"Which is why you'll be there to run interference."

Which meant I got left with Quinn yet again. Given the time he was taking to make his decision, I wasn't exactly happy about that. I mean, putting me with him was like flashing chocolate my way then telling me I couldn't have it. It was just plain mean.

"Meanwhile," Jack continued, "Quinn and Riley will be investigating Martin Hunt."

"And how are we supposed to be doing that?"

"Easy." Jack's gaze went to Quinn. "I believe you have an invitation to the Wishes For Children Foundation's charity dinner tomorrow evening?"

"Yes."

"Good. Hunt will be there, as his wife is on the foundation board. You and Riley can mingle with the nation's finest highfliers, and get a line on Hunt in the process."

"There's a major problem in that thinking." Sarcasm edged my voice. "If Hunt is a baddie, he knows what I look like."

"Which is why Rhoan will be bringing in Liander."

"It's too big a risk." Though Quinn's voice was soft, steely determination was evident in his tones. "I'll go, but Riley should stay here."

"We need Riley's nose. Hunt might have been one of the men who visited her in that breeding cell. If he is, we've found a major player."

It wouldn't be that easy. Deep down, I knew there was someone else—someone I knew. Someone who was pulling all the strings from the shadows.

"They've snatched her twice now, and have tried to kill her several times since. Her DNA is as useful to them dead as it is alive. Sending her to this function could be as good as signing her death warrant."

"They won't know she's even there."

"They knew she was at that Brighton hotel. They knew she was in the car park. You cannot possibly say for sure they won't know she's at the function."

"I do agree that Riley shouldn't be doing this," Rhoan added. "She's not trained for undercover work."

"This won't be dangerous," Jack said impatiently. "And Quinn will be there to protect her."

"None of us have been doing a very good job of protecting her so far." Rhoan met my gaze. "It's your call."

Which meant he'd back me, no matter what I decided. Even if it meant going up against Jack's orders. I smiled, loving my brother more than ever.